Taing, Kim You, 1967-

Kim You Taing, a Cambodian-Chinese refugee discusses his childhood during the Cambodian Wars, and how his family survived fleeing from village to village to escape the Rouge and gunfire occurring at that time. After a tragic incident where his two siblings died from drowning in the village river. his mother decided they need to get out of Cambodia to get a better life. His father who was Chinese would be captured and killed by the government just for being Chinese. Kim and his family were farmers but were forced to leave their village in order to survive and get to a place of "normal" and safety. He discusses how his family's choices were often not choices they were able to make, but rather forced to make because they had to survive. After his family gets in contact with a American missionary, they were able to be sponsored to come to America and find their way to Seattle, Washington. In Washington, Kim would be attending school for the first time in his life at age 16, after years of running and surviving in Cambodia and Thailand. His family would be able to move to Las Vegas and become porters and housekeepers at prominent casinos at the time like Circus Circus and Excalibur. Kim decided he is not as motivated to stay in school and tried community college, but starts to work as a busser at Circus Circus where he eventually would make his way to be a server at the Bellagio and be apart of the Culinary Union and advocate for other Asian people their rights as a casino worker. He now is a father and husband to his wife and 15 year old daughter, and sees himself living in Vegas for 10 more years until he can retire.